St Andrews gets best ever ranking at third in the UK

The University of St Andrews has been ranked third in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2018. Out of 129 institutions in the UK, St Andrews excelled in areas such as research quality and student satisfaction. In addition to this, St Andrews has maintained its position as the top university to attend in Scotland. Edinburgh University has not yet commented on the news, but we expect that they will be receiving a consolation prize in the coming weeks.

The shift in rankings sees St Andrews overtake universities like Durham and Imperial, who have also vied for the third place position over the last decade. St Andrews Principal Professor Sally Mapstone commented on the league table result and said that it was a “great endorsement what the university stands for.” The university, with its large international population, is miles above its closest Scottish competitor, Edinburgh. This year, Edinburgh has been relegate four places to just 23rd on the league table.

The rise in St Andrews ranking, according to Mapstone, is a result of St Andrews efforts to enhance British research, particularly in the face of uncertainty about the feature of European grants. Six subjects offered at St Andrews have also been deemed the ‘best in the UK’, giving St Andrews more of an opportunity to display its research and internationally renowned academics.

The guide itself commented that one of the reasons St Andrews has continued to climb the league table is its unique “flexible degree structure and modular system, [which] along with over 900 undergraduate courses and a large number of postgraduate opportunities, allows students at the University of St Andrews to immerse themselves in the subjects that they are most passionate about.” This is obviously a wonderful achievement and may spur those of you who are wondering why you took a second module of Film Studies into getting that 7/20 you need.